Well, there's plenty of martial arts choices in San Diego, so don't feel like you can't switch to something more to your liking. Weren't you looking at places a while ago and leaning towards West Coast Martial Arts? Like, you're a little north of Mira Mesa? Like Goodlun said, there's Judo America; there's a taekwondo studio and a kung fu/tai chi studio within walking distance from there, if you head down Miramar Road a bit there's a muay thai gym, within walking distance from there there, a Team Noguera gym, and a block from there there's the 858 Fight Shop and Pitbull Jiujitsu (a Carlson Gracie gym). Down the hill there's the Jing Institute where they mostly do wushu, and up the hill there's a White Dragon school, a franchise kung fu/tai chi place. I also know of a guy teaching a kempo style (I think; black gis and scripted self defense techniques) out of his garage in Mira Mesa, and there's a kaju class at the rec center on Black Mountain Road. I wouldn't recommend all of them, I'm just pointing out the great degree of martial arts places around SD if you look.

Another thing: I used to have a small sparring group in Balboa Park on the weekends. Interest waned or something, but if you'd be interested in a San Diego sparring meetup in a park, I'd be interested. Probably not every week, since my girlfriend is already annoyed enough that I have an FMA class on Sunday nights, but every once in a while it would be cool to have some mini-throwdowns. We have a few other guys here from Bullshido and some dudes I train with would like it as well.

I am just going to throw this out their but if the place is in retail space I would tend to move right one I am not saying its not possible for a good school but its going to automatically more expensive to cover the significantly higher rents.

Current we are at a place called West Coast Martial Arts. We live in Rancho Bernardo. When you google map it, the ride down to Mira Mesa doesn't seem bad, but I would much rather stay local.
Ideally, I would be able to introduce the idea of aliveness to the place I am already.

Current we are at a place called West Coast Martial Arts. We live in Rancho Bernardo. When you google map it, the ride down to Mira Mesa doesn't seem bad, but I would much rather stay local.
Ideally, I would be able to introduce the idea of aliveness to the place I am already.

It really isn't that bad of a drive down especially since you would get off at Carol Canyon instead of Mira Mesa Blvd. You can also come down Scrips Poway parkway and run down Black Mountain Rd to avoid sitting in traffic.
Lets be crystal clear, you are not going to get them to start training with Aliveness at WCMA it simply isn't going to happen, they already have a BJJ instructor and have had some pretty damn good FMA instructors if they haven't convinced the owners of the need for aliveness what makes you think you are going to.
The place caters to those who have a romanticized vision of MA that want to lose a few pounds and think that they are safe from roaming rape gangs. The population of the gym likes it this way they don't want to be hit in the face.

never understood why people have to inflict these kind of MAs on their kids. get em into judo or wrestling or something and if they dont like it, get them into tiddlywinks. MA isnt for everybody. for the love of god though, dont get them into strip mall krotty, it breeds the kind of people who think karate kid was a realistic movie, and who subsequently get the **** beaten out of them in high school. luckily i was saved from it because i was one of those guys who beat the crap out of a krotty guy in school- we went to the same dojo, i was a yellow belt (or something low) and he was a brown belt. and bigger than me.

Lets be crystal clear, you are not going to get them to start training with Aliveness at WCMA it simply isn't going to happen, they already have a BJJ instructor and have had some pretty damn good FMA instructors if they haven't convinced the owners of the need for aliveness what makes you think you are going to.

I don't think they have an FMA program anymore. At least not with the guy who used to run it (Guro Mario).

EDIT: I vaguely recall something about Guro Mario's sparring focus being part of what the management didn't like.

You want to convince an existing and successful school of which you are a new member to change their entire modus operandi? Instructors generally don't change their curriculum and philosophy at the whim of white belts.

Train somewhere else, or get used to how they do things.

What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. -Xenophon's Socrates